


The Swipe Between Us

by LNC



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged Up, College AU, F/M, Ladynoir July, Tinder, don't touch me, idk we're winging it, no glaciator
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:15:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25029874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LNC/pseuds/LNC
Summary: Chat Noir finds out his lady is on Tinder and does the Most.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 134
Kudos: 465





	1. The Wall Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: The first rule of ladynoir july is we do not talk about ladynoir july. @ladynoirjuly2020
> 
> A college au inspired from my original post on tumblr.

Tonight was the night.

 _The_ night.

For real this time– no take backs.

Tonight was the night that Chat Noir was going to kitty up and finally tell his stubborn, beautiful, wicked smart partner that contrary to Ladybug’s (frankly _astounding_ ) denials to the press, their occasional teammates, and herself, he, her dearest chaton, her silly minou, her clown by any other name, was desperately and hopelessly in love with her.

How he’d manage to make it seven years before coming to this point was beyond him. Adrien was inclined to blame Plagg for the series of misfortunes that plagued his thwarted confessions but his kwami said even _he_ wasn’t that good.

But seven years later there he was.

Somehow college crushes, lycee boyfriends, enterprising supervillains, and everything in between had successfully conspired to keep him from the dearest wish of his heart–

for Ladybug to look at him, _really_ look at him, just once.

(Well, that wasn’t entirely true. The _dearest_ wish of his heart kept her looking but at this point he’d take anything.)

But tonight was different. Tonight he was going to succeed.

Chat Noir had accounted for everything from akuma attacks to nosy journalists to Ladybug spontaneously going deaf.

(He’d spent a good hour last night learning to sign _Don't panic_ _I love you_ just in case).

He was ready.

Or at least, that’s what he thought right up until the moment his lady scooted closer to him on the little wall they shared, leaned her head on his shoulder and asked

“What do you know about Tinder?”


	2. Stargazing

Chat Noir never used dating apps.

Between being _Adrien Agreste_ and his all-consuming love for his partner, the desire to swipe left, left, right on a bunch of strangers never really crossed his mind.

Until now that is.

“I downloaded Tinder last night.” 

Ladybug dropped it on him after he admitted he’d never been interested in that sort of thing. She said it like a secret, slightly embarrassed, more than amused.

As he’d previously been on the verge of his Big Confession her words left him scrambling to catch up. In the end all he managed was to turn his instinctual _no_ into a squeaky, stuttering “N– _ooh_?"

“Yeah,” She said. “Best friend’s orders.”

Chat swallowed and turned away from his lady to stare up at the night sky. It was almost impossible to see the stars in the city but that never stopped him from trying. With Ladybug by his side he always felt he might get lucky.

“What about that guy?” He asked when he was sure he could do so without sounding _too_ interested. “Haven’t you been hung up on him for years or something?”

Ladybug sighed, a wistful thing, and once again he felt anger and envy burbling in his stomach. Chat Noir didn’t know who Mr. Wonderful was, but if he ever got the chance he had a few choice words for the oblivious bastard.

Who wouldn’t notice _her_?

He sneaked a sideways glance at Ladybug only to find her staring up at the empty sky.

“He doesn’t want me.”

 _I want you_.

The words were there, right on his tongue, honest and ready. Instead panic took over and sincerity fell by the wayside in favor of the familiar. 

“Well you know,” He said, leaning into her space with a smile that only grew wider when she pushed him away. " _I'm_ always available."

“Pfft, right.” She shook her head, shooting him a sideways grin. “Like I’m going to let _you_ get in the way of my hot girl summer.”

Patrol ended quickly after that. Chat Noir stuck around long enough to see Ladybug bound off towards the West Bank before heading back to his apartment. It took him all of fifteen minutes before Adrien caved and pulled out his phone.

Sure, Ladybug hadn’t invited him to join her… but she didn’t say _not_ to either.

He stared down at the little white and orange sticker in the app store, a dangerous sort of anticipation stirring his stomach.

Adrien pressed download.


	3. In Denial

Adrien had one strategy:

Swipe right on every woman who bore even a passing resemblance to Ladybug.

He was fairly confident in his plan. Years of stealing glances and outright staring at his lady left him better acquainted with her features than most. And he knew from his own experiences with the Ladybug miraculous that while Tikki may be the goddess of creation she didn’t expend much energy altering her wielder's appearance.

As far as plans went it wasn’t his worst. Adrien would almost venture to call it a good one. At least, he _thought_ so right up until the moment Plagg hovered over his shoulder, watching him swipe through his photo archive with the indifferent kind of disdain he’d mastered over millennia.

“What makes you so sure _Ladybug_ will swipe right on _you_?”

Plagg regretted the careless question almost the moment he asked. Adrien fingers hovered over the screen, horrified.

“Oh my god, what if she doesn’t?!” He dropped his phone in his lap, a picture from one of his latest photoshoots smirking up at him from the screen. “I don’t even know what kind of guys she’s into. _Plaaaagg_ ! What am I going to do? I can’t set up a profile _now_. What if she immediately decides against me and I never get the chance to meet her?”

He turned to face his kwami only to find the coward had disappeared leaving him to his despair. 

_What am I supposed to do now?_

His incomplete profile haunted him the rest of the evening and most of the following morning as he agonized over exactly _how_ he was going to make sure his lady swiped right on him. Short of tracking her down and stealing her phone to do the deed himself he wasn’t sure there was much he _could_ do.

It wasn’t until his lunch break in between his second and third classes of the day that Plagg gave into his incessant whining and broke.

“Why don’t you just _ask_ the bug what she’s looking for?”

Adrien froze.

Just _ask_ her?

Insane. Impossible.

_Brilliant._

That night Chat Noir found it difficult to hide his eagerness as they criss-crossed their way over the arrondissements. In the beginning patrol had been all about reassuring Paris and letting its citizens know that nothing irreversibly terrible would happen under their watch. Over the years as they grew more confident in their roles, Ladybug’s no nonsense policies gave way and while they always started out checking over their well-loved city, patrols now ended with the two of them stowed away on some rooftop or other, talking, laughing, and just… being.

Tonight however Ladybug’s feet barely touched down at their rendezvous point before Chat pounced.

“So what exactly _are_ you looking for in a boyfriend?”

Ladybug started, eyebrows raised. “Who said I’m looking for a boyfriend?”

“You did. When you downloaded tinder.”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you still on this?”

Chat recalibrated and leaned against his staff, doing his best to look disinterested. “Call me curious.”

She shot him a _look_.

“Hey, curiosity kills me not you. What do you have to lose?”

Ladybug shook her head and took a seat on the edge of the roof. He followed her lead and took his place beside her.

“I’m not even sure I’m looking for anything really.”

“That’s vague.” 

And supremely unhelpful.

He tried again. “Fine. So you’re not looking for a boyfriend– what _are_ you looking for? A hookup?”

Something tight and hot settled in his stomach. He wasn’t sure what would be worse– hooking up with Ladybug only for her to turn around and say she wasn’t looking for anything serious or never having the opportunity to find out at all.

But Ladybug was already shaking her head before he could follow _that_ particular spiral all the way down.

“Okay then what?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, Chat. I don’t know what I’m doing or even what I’m looking for. It’s just like… a gut thing.”

“Oh.” His shoulders slumped. “You can’t give me anything else huh?”

“I’m not sure there’s anything else I _could_ say. It’s like…” She paused, biting her lip. Chat found himself resisting the impulse to lean forward and replace her teeth with his own. 

Maybe she would push him away or maybe she would wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him back but at least then he would have an answer. Something more concrete than her _gut thing_ whatever the hell that meant. He was still debating whether or not to just go for it when Ladybug’s eyes lit up, bright and blue and so, so beautiful.

She reached forward and took his hand in hers.

“It’s like _this_.” His lady said holding their clasped hands between them and making his heart thunder like so many horses.

 _"This_?” He squeaked, hating the sound that escaped his throat until he realized he’d made her smile.

“Yeah,” She squeezed his fingers and Chat resisted the urge to do something stupid like cry. “Like this.”

Ladybug’s smile was imprinted on his heart even as she turned away to face the city streets laid out like a patchwork quilt at her feet.

“When you know you know.”


	4. Disguises

It took Adrien less than forty-five minutes to realize he’d made a mistake.  
  


 **Anne-Marie:** are you really adrien agreste?

 **Lea:** catfish

 **Clara:** maybe next time you set up a fake profile you’ll choose someone less conspicuous

 **Elise:** come over

  
“Plagg, no one believes it’s me,” he whined, throwing himself face first onto his couch. 

It wasn’t as nice as the furniture he’d had back when he still lived with his father but Adrien didn’t mind. His apartment may be small and his possessions mass-market but they were _his_. With the majority of his earnings locked up in trust until he turned twenty-five he made do with a monthly stipend not unlike a regular salary.

That is, if a salary was dispensed at the discretion of a distant, controlling father. Adrien (mostly) didn’t care. If he squinted at their arrangement hard enough it almost felt normal and almost normal was good enough.

At least, that’s what he thought.

Four hours into his little experiment saw an influx of messages from a variety of black-haired, blue-eyed girls varying in skepticism, friendliness, and _friendliness._ Six hours saw screenshots of his profile spreading across Parisian twitter with several gossip magazines @ing him directly to confirm or deny the authenticity of the account.

Adrien had been careful to share his more candid photos from hangouts with friends rather than overload his profile with stills from his shoots. That being said, what guy _wouldn’t_ take advantage of having professional headshots on hand to win over the girl of his dreams?

With Ladybug’s heart at stake there wasn’t much he wasn’t willing to do.

That strategy unfortunately muddied the water and left him open to being labeled a _catfish_. He’d laugh at the irony if it wasn’t so spectacularly sad.

“How am I supposed to match with Ladybug if she doesn’t even believe I’m _real_?”

Plagg shrugged. “Maybe she’s one of the ones inviting you over.”

Adrien was horrified.

He didn’t sleep that night and woke up to a politely displeased inquiring email from Nathalie asking him to confirm whether or not the tinder account really did belong to him. But even the threat of his father’s diluted disapproval didn’t embarrass him as much as Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s slightly flustered texts.  
  


[Screenshot 1 of 7]

 **Marinette** : Ah Alya and I were messing around and stumbled on this account.

 **Marinette:** They have personal pics so we thought it _might_ be you

 **Marinette:** but then like

 **Marinette:** those pics were also all on our instas and i thought

 **Marinette:** why would _you_ be on tinder

 **Marinette:** NOT THAT THERE’S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT

 **Marinette:** because i mean i’m on tinder

 **Marinette:** not that that means anything

 **Marinette:** but yeah

 **Marinette:** just thought i’d give you a heads up in case you know it wasn’t you

  
It wasn’t even a question of what he had to do at that point. Frustrated and more than a little mortified Adrien did the only thing he could:

_Deny. Deny. Deny._

**  
Adrien:** Haha definitely not me. Thank you for letting me know!

  
Plagg laughed at him as he deleted his profile.

“It’s not funny.” He said, dejected as he stared down at the now deactivated app. “How am I supposed to talk to Ladybug _now_? It’s not like I can set up another account and hide my face in every picture. I know for a fact girls don’t go for that.”

His kwami hummed, taking a bite of camembert. “Too bad you can’t just make a profile as Chat Noir. If nothing else she’d probably match with you just to find out what the hell you’re up to.”

Adrien froze.

Create a profile as Chat Noir?

 _Now_ **_there’s_ ** _an idea._


	5. Banter

Ladybug’s yoyo was still suspended from the iron bar above him when the words tumbled out of his mouth.

“I did something stupid.”

Her smile was confused as she touched down on the platform. “Moreso than usual?”

Chat flinched. “Maybe.”

Ladybug sidled next to him, bumping her shoulder against his and making him drop the hands that were fiddling with his tail.

“Well lay it on me.”

“I joined tinder.”

Ladybug blinked. “Oh? That’s… that’s great, Chat.”

He eyed her, wary. “Really?”

“Of course,” She paused then grinned. “Although wouldn’t it be easier to ask me out now?”

Chat laughed with her, squeaky and breathless.

“I mean if you’re  _ offering _ ,” He said, only just remembering to waggle his eyebrows as Ladybug giggled into her hands.

“I’m good, kitty.” She said, patting his arm. “I just hope you’re luckier than me.”

Chat Noir watched as she swung off towards her patrol route and sighed as she disappeared over the rooftops.

“I’m counting on it.”  
  


* * *

**Show Me On Tinder** {Yes} **{No}**

Adrien stared down the only picture he’d uploaded to his profile. It was silly, something he’d taken on his baton after his lady left him for the evening. Chat Noir was holding his baton out, clearly lounging on one of the beams of the Eiffel Tower. He was holding up a victory sign with his free hand while tossing a wink and kissy face at the camera.

His profile was one line:

_ Looking for the bugaboo to my chaton. _

Adrien’s finger hovered over the {Yes} button

and pressed.


	6. Rose

Plagg stared at Adrien’s rapidly pinging phone in disgust.

“Ladybug is going to kill you.”

Adrien hummed, pressing the button on the side of his phone only for a new notification to immediately sound off.

“Cheese, kid. Did you swipe on every woman in Paris?”

“Everyone with black hair and blue eyes.”

“This is sad.” He took a bite of camembert. “Definitely a misuse of miraculous.”

Adrien shot his kwami an incredulous look. “Do you care?”

Plagg swallowed. “No.”

That’s what he was counting on. Just like he was counting on the rising attention Chat Noir’s account was accumulating. This whole thing would be useless if his efforts went unnoticed.

Plagg hovered over his shoulder. “So what are you waiting for?”

Even as he asked the question Adrien’s phone pinged with the notification he was waiting for.

**You have a Match!**

Adrien grinned as a picture of Marinette’s blushing smile filled his phone’s screen.

_Yes._

He only needed to wait ten minutes for her first message.  
  


>> _Tell me, “Chat Noir”_

_ >> which akuma did you save me from in college?  
_

>> **Which time ;)**

  
Adrien snickered as he imagined Marinette’s irritated grimace.   
  


>> _on the boat.  
_

>> **Evilustrator – you were my temporary ladybug** **_.  
  
_ **

And then, because he couldn’t resist messing with a friend, he added  
  


>> **Are you interested in something more** **_purr-_ ** **menant?**

  
Adrien watched gleefully as the telltale …s appeared and disappeared as she struggled with her response before the chat vanished entirely signaling that she had unmatched him. He leaned his head back into his hands and smirked.

“Now we wait.”

Plagg eyed him skeptically. “So your plan is to run off every girl who talks to you?”

“Nope.” Just this one.

His kwami floated off, losing interest. “Well I’d say you’re off to a stellar start.”

Adrien ignored him and refreshed his Internet browser. It only took three minutes from Marinette unmatching him for the Ladyblog’s twitter feed to update.  
  


. **@cnofficial** on a scale of 10 to 10 how up for an interview are you?

  
 _Perfect_.


End file.
